Simple grilled salmon with a fresh salsa made from ripe summer fruit is a quick and delish weeknight dinner.

The boys of summer are heading out, per Don Henley, so I’m getting in one more grilling recipe. Okay, no promises maybe a couple more because grilling season is just getting comfortable here in the South.

August is still a time of plenty in terms of most area’s local produce. Here we’re looking at peaches and melons for fruit, either of which are perfect in a fruit salsa with some zingy lime juice, aromatic cilantro and spicy jalapeno.

Fruit salsa is a perfect base recipe that gives you a foundation that you can riff off of depending on your preferences for spiciness and flavor and vary depending on what’s in season. This works well with fruit from strawberries, to tropical fruits like pineapple or mango, to melons, to stone fruits (peaches, plums etc).

Fruit salsa also goes great on chicken or as a dip with corn chips, or cinnamon and sugared flour tortilla chips as a dessert.

Fruit Salsa Components

Fruit – anything that’s fresh or you’re craving
Aromatic – red onion, shallot, or scallion
Acid – lime or lemon juice, or rice wine vinegar
Herbs – cilantro, basil, or mint
Spice – fresh jalapeno or other fresh chile or crushed red pepper
Seasoning – Don’t forget the salt! You might also need a little sugar if the fruit isn’t beautifully ripe.

Now don’t let all those words bother you. Here’s the ‘recipe’.

Stir together 2 cups chopped/diced fruit, 2 tablespoons diced red onion, juice of 1 lime, 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro, minced jalapeno to taste, season with salt.

Easy peasy!

And salmon filets are incredibly fast to grill or broil and are healthy to boot. (to boot? Wth?) They will stick to a grill so make sure your grates are very clean, the grill is super hot, and rub a little oil on the grates with a paper towel held in long bbq tongs.

For the broiler, line a pan with foil for easy cleanup, put the rack up to the highest position, and broil filets on high for about 12 minutes. *boom*

Check out this post for more info on the types of salmon and farmed vs wild.

Simple Grilled Salmon with Fruit Salsa { quick & easy }

Prep Time

5 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

25 mins

Summary The directions are for a gas grill. If you prefer to broil them, position an oven rack 6 inches from the broiler and turn it on to high. Spray the top rack of a broiler pan with nonstick spray. Pat filets dry, lightly oil, salt and pepper the filets and place them skin side down on broiler pan rack. Broil for 10-12 minutes.

Author: Chef Shelley

Serves: 4

Ingredients

1 tablespoon oil
4 – 6 ounce salmon filets
Salt and pepper to taste
¼ cup or more oil for grill
Fruit Salsa
Stir together 2 cups chopped/diced fruit, 2 tablespoons diced red onion, juice of 1 lime, 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro, minced jalapeno to taste, season with salt.

Instructions

Preheat grill with all burners on high and lid down for 10-15 minutes until very hot.
Pat salmon completely dry with paper towels. Lightly oil and salt and pepper both sides.
Open grill cover and scrape grates clean. Make a wad of two or three paper towels and using a pair of long grill tongs, grab it securely. Dip the wad of towels in oil and rub the grill grates where you are going to place the salmon using additional oil if necessary until grates are black and shiny, about 5-10 times. Of course be careful of flame ups.
Place the salmon skin down on the grill. Close the lid, reduce heat to medium and grill for 3-5 minutes. Skin should be browned and crispy and salmon should easily release from grill grate.
Flip carefully with two spatulas or a spatula and tongs.
Grill until filets are 125 degrees, anywhere from 2-6 minutes longer.